Molecular dynamics study of xenon on an amorphous Al2O3 surface

L Blackberg and E Metsanurk and A Tamm and A Aabloo and M Klintenberg, NUCLEAR INSTRUMENTS & METHODS IN PHYSICS RESEARCH SECTION A-ACCELERATORS SPECTROMETERS DETECTORS AND ASSOCIATED EQUIPMENT, 759, 10-15 (2014).

DOI: 10.1016/j.nima.2014.03.044

Xenon self diffusion on amorphous Al2O3 surfaces has been studied using molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. The results show that the topology of the amorphous alumina surface has a considerable effect on the mobility of Xe. Adding nanoscale scratches to the surface will both increase the adsorption energies and lower the surface diffusion coefficients. These findings give a possible explanation to the need for unexpectedly thick ALD deposited amorphous Al2O3 films used as gas diffusion barriers on polymeric systems. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

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